Need some feedback on first gun for a friend.

Ok so a friend of mine has decided that he wants to get himself a firearm. He has apparently owned a couple old black powder muskets his dad used for hunting but other than that has never owned a handgun, shotgun, or modern rifle. He said it is just a general purpose gun, and he seems to have fixated himself on an H&K 91. These are the specs he has given me.

Personally I am a cheap bastard and would never spend $3000 on something without a V-8 in it but some arms are simply expensive. Especially as a first "real" weapon for someone. He says he's shot pistols rifles and such before but just hasn't owned any. So bullies what are you opinions on this particular weapon? Is it worth 3k?

How much has he shot black powder? The rule of thumb for new firearm purchases is to start with the smallest caliber you can tolerate (.22LR) without it affecting your sense of manhood, so you don't develop bad habits (recoil anticipation, etc).

For $3k he should get a Ruger 10/22, a CETME, and $2000 worth of ammo. Also, he shouldn't touch the CETME until he's put 1000 rounds through the 10/22, in less than quarter-sized groups, at 50 yards, using only iron sights.

Your friend is trying to jump into the deep end when he's barely spent any time in the wading pool.

Tell him he'll have to spend another $2000 buying ammunition alone in order to learn how to shoot the weapon properly. Since he has no real experience with an assault rifle, he'll need professional instruction if he ever hopes to fire it accurately while under the stress of a real situation. That will also cost money.

Or he could be smart and buy a decent .22 rifle and spend less than $500 on ammunition. After two or three inexpensive shooting classes and a bit of quality range advice while learning to shoot the .22, he'll be ready to buy that fancy H&K.

Hell, Cabela's sells it new, minus scope and with only 3 magazines for the same price, so what's the hurry?

I would advise against the H&K91. Admittedly, I'm biased because it sucks to shoot if you're left handed, but still . . . I wanted one a long time ago, because I was sure that 5.56 was just not a man stopper, and I needed srs power. Turns out, I just didn't know what I was talking about, having neither owned nor shot an assault rifle very much.

Anyway, I echo the advice of getting something MUCH MUCH cheaper until your friend learns to shoot. If he still absolutely has to have an assault rifle, at least steer him toward an M4gery, which will be less than half the price, less expensive to shoot, and more easily customized. If he wants it for self defense, tell him to buy a damn shotgun, and he'll still have a ton of money left over to buy an M4 or whatever else he wants to play with.

That said, .22lr is pretty hard to beat, factoring in cost of ammo and how fun it is to shoot.

Last edited by Cassius; 9/07/2010 4:53pm at .

"No. Listen to me because I know what I'm talking about here." -- Hannibal

So after talking with my friend about the brought up concerns he has informed me that his older brothers both have decent sized collections of rifles and that he has had plenty of experience with firing different size rifles. He is just looking for a rifle that he can shoot and enjoy. He knows that its pricey but he says that "If it's the gun I ultimately want to own, why waste money buying others as practice" which to me makes some sense. I think he is more looking for any kind of mechanical reasons not to buy it.

After you get him to buy a .22 get him over to here http://appleseedinfo.org/boot_camps.html to learn to shoot for a low price. He will shoot approximately 1500 at a week long bootcamp for $200 there are also weekend events if he does not want to speed a week shooting.

So after talking with my friend about the brought up concerns he has informed me that his older brothers both have decent sized collections of rifles and that he has had plenty of experience with firing different size rifles. He is just looking for a rifle that he can shoot and enjoy. He knows that its pricey but he says that "If it's the gun I ultimately want to own, why waste money buying others as practice" which to me makes some sense. I think he is more looking for any kind of mechanical reasons not to buy it.

Ok, I've got one.

It's "mechanically" identical to the PTR91, only it's three times as expensive and used.